Knut Svea's 1963 Buick

A photo of Knut's Riviera taken in 1975. Photo courtesy of Knut Svea.

Photo courtesy of Einar Valsjø Custom Cars.

A photo of the 401 engine in the car as it appeared after Knut Svea restored it in 1974. Photo courtesy of Knut Svea.

Svein Sørensen preparing the Riviera for the 1976 Stavanger Motorama. This photo was published in Amcar No. 3 - 1979. Photo courtesy of Amcar Magazine. Click here to buy this magazine online from Amcar.no.

Photo courtesy of Steinar Vårly.

Except for the hubcaps, this is how the Buick appeared when Ole Dalbye Kristensen bought it in 1986. Photo courtesy of Ole Dalbye Kristensen.

After Ole bought the Riviera, he made extensive rust repairs in the firewall area due to grinding around seams during customization and bondo covering it. Following years of water-penetrating seams. Photo courtesy of Ole Dalbye Kristensen.

Later, the engine got a full restoration, and the engine bay was brought back to its original from the then rundown custom look. Photo courtesy of Ole Dalbye Kristensen.

The Buick was driven every summer until 1994, while Ole owned it. Photo courtesy of Håkon Martinussen.

1963 Buick Riviera owned and restored by Knut Svea. Knut's Riviera received a custom paint job by Einar Valsjø. This version of the car won a prize at the Sjølyst Motorama car show in Oslo in the spring of 1975.

Svein Sørensen

By 1976, the car had swapped hands a couple of times, and it was owned by Svein Sørensen. Svein displayed the car at the 1976 Stavanger Motorama.

Åge Torgrimsen

Around 1979/1980, the car was owned by Åge Torgrimmsen from Larvik. While Åge owned it, it was painted black. Åge sold it around 1980/1981.

Ole Dalbye Kristensen

Ole Dalbye Kristensen bought the car in 1986. It had been painted black but had the old show car engine compartment by then. After Ole bought the Riviera, he made extensive rust repairs in the firewall area due to grinding around seams during customization and bondo covering it. Following years of water-penetrating seams. Later the engine got a full restoration, and the engine bay was brought back to its original from the then rundown custom look. In the late eighties, all the suspension parts and brakes were renewed. And then different upgrades and repairs all around, including new black paint. In between these winter sessions, it was driven every summer. Until it was sold in 1994, it was driven quite a few 1000-mile trips.

Sold to Tromsø

Ole sold the car to a guy in Tromsø. In Tromsø, the car was stored outside for a couple of years before it was sold to a guy in the southern part of Norway again. The car got a new license plate number. Eivind Bye bought the car in Alvdal in 2004. It was still black when Eivind bought it. Eivind planned to restore the car back to how it looked in 1974, but it was very rusty and needed a lot of repairs, so he sold it to a guy in Drammen in 2009. The guy in Drammen had owned the car before.

Magazine Features and Appearances

Amcar No. 3 - 1979